Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making eBook

Our illustration gives a very clear idea of the affair.
The sides are built of stout young tree-trunks, cut
into sections and firmly driven into the ground close
together. For a large animal,—­a bear,
for instance,—­the enclosure should be about
seven feet deep, two and a half feet wide, and four
feet high. The top should be built in with the
sides, after the manner of the log cabin, described
in page (244.) The two posts at the entrance should
be first set up. On the back side of each, near
the end, a deep notch should be cut for the reception
of the cross piece at the top. This should likewise
be notched in a similar manner on both sides of each
end, so as to fit singly into the notches in the uprights
on the one side, and into the second pair of uprights
[Page 30] on the other. These latter should next
be inserted firmly into the ground, having been previously
notched on both sides of their upper ends, as described
for the cross piece. They may either be fixed
in place and the cross piece sprung in between them
at the top, or the latter may be held in the notches
of the first pair, while the second are being inserted.
Continue thus until the full length of the sides are
reached, when the end may be closed by an upright
wall of plain logs, either hammered into the ground,
after the manner of the sides, or arranged one above
another in notches between the two end uprights.
The sliding door is next required. This should
be large enough to cover the opening, and should be
made of stout board slabs, firmly secured by cross
pieces. It should be made to slide smoothly into
grooves cut into perpendicular logs situated on each
side of the opening, or may be arranged to slip easily
between the flattened side of one log on each side
and the front of the pen. Either way works well.
In the latter an additional upright or short board
should be inserted in the ground at the edges of the
sliding door, to prevent the latter from being forced
to either side by the efforts of the enclosed captive.

[Illustration]

There are two or three ways of setting the trap, depending
upon the desired game. For a bear it is arranged
as in our illustration. An upright post, two
feet in length, should be cut [Page 31] to an edge
at one end, and wedged in between the logs at the top
of the trap, near the middle. Across the top of
this, a pole seven feet in length, should be rested;
one end being attached by a loop, or secured in a
notch in the sliding door, and the other supplied
with a strong string about four feet in length, with
a stick eight inches in length secured to its end.
Through the centre log, in the back of the pen, and
about two feet from the ground, an auger hole should
be made. The bait stick with bait attached should
be inserted through this hole from the inside, and
the spindle caught on the outside between its projecting
end and a nail driven in the adjoining upright.
This principle is clearly illustrated on page 105
at (a), and, if desired, the method (b)
may be used also. For a bear, the bait should
consist of a piece of meat scented with burnt honey-comb.
The odor of honey will tempt a bear into almost any
trap, and even into such close quarters as the above
he will enter without the slightest suspicion, when
a feast of honey is in view.